Click Now to Order

ARGUMENTS

A disagreement between the city council and a local business means that residents of the Pennsylvania community of Duncannon have a 4-foot potted Christmas tree instead of the 20-foot tree they have used for the past eight years.

The 20-foot tree had already been decorated when Kirk Nace, a local real estate agent who owns the property the tree sits on, raised questions about the city's use of the tree.Nace sent a fax to the city council advising officials that no one had ever asked permission to use the tree.The council responded to the fax by voting to remove the decorations and buy another tree.

About 100 people turned out for the lighting of the tiny tree located in front of a bank near the traditional tree. After the holidays, the potted tree will be planted in a local park. After the lighting, Nace said, "I never told (the borough) they had to take it down. It was easier for them to do that than ask for permission for use of the private property." Nace is the brother of the newly elected mayor of the borough and is currently involved in a dispute with the borough over a $6,000 sewer bill.

—Associated Press, Pa. Town has 4-foot Christmas tree, December 8, 2004. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

2 Tim. 2:23 (NIV), Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.

ARGUMENTS

Major league baseball has been trying to eliminate some of the arguments from the game. One recent innovation that has reduced many contentious moments is the instant replay. A team of umpires located in a New York studio with video feeds to every big league ball park view close, contested plays review the calls. No sense arguing with the umpire on the field, the call is made elsewhere.

Now baseball is looking at a way to get the calls right on balls and strikes. They are developing a system that can tell instantly if a ball crossed the strike zone. The “robot umpire” will signal the home plate umpire who will make the call known. They are testing the system in the Atlantic League, an independent minor league. But just one week into the “robot umpire” era in baseball, former Cy Young Award winner and current High Point Rockers pitching coach Frank Viola disagreed with the judgment of the system and began shouting at the home plate umpire to overrule the robots. The umpires ejected Viola from the game when he left the dugout to argue balls and strikes.

World Magazine August 17, 2019 p. 14

There is no way to remove arguments from human life. We are naturally an argumentative people. One of the calls to the Christian community is to not be contentious, to avoid arguments whenever we can. –Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Proverbs 15:18 (CSB)

“A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict,

but one slow to anger calms strife.”